Agenda item

To consider the following Culture related report scheduled for Cabinet consideration on 13 January 2021:

·       Setting up the BCP Cultural Compact

The O&S Board is asked to scrutinise the reports and make recommendations to Cabinet as appropriate.

Cabinet member invited to attend for this item: Councillor Mohan Iyengar, Portfolio Holder for Tourism, Leisure and Culture.

The Cabinet report for this item is included with the agenda for consideration by the Overview and Scrutiny Board.

Setting up the BCP Cultural Compact - The Portfolio Holder for Tourism, Leisure and Culture presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'C' to these Minutes in the Minute Book. A number of issues were raised by the Board in the subsequent discussion, including:

• A Board Member queried how the Compact would be set up to work effectively in order to drive the project forward. The Portfolio Holder explained that from a governance point of view, there was not the ability to make any changes, but he agreed with the points that had been raised and felt it important to ensure that the driving force behind ideas for moving this forward, came from the creative industries as opposed to the governance board. In response, the Board Member, having led the compact as in his role within the previous administration, could share some additional information with the Portfolio Holder outside of this meeting. The Lead Member for Cultural Events and Bournemouth Regeneration added that the makeup of the compact would be a cross-section of people and was currently quite fluid, the set up would be the next step.
• A Board Member queried if it was possible to move away from using the word ‘culture’ to avoid putting a large number of people off from getting involved due to the common interpretation of what culture was over what it could actually mean. The Lead Member explained that it was important that the full range of the word ‘culture’ was understood, i.e. not just ballet or the orchestra and should be about recognising the diversity of what this compact could encompass and its potential to transform the conurbation.
• A Board Member commented that town centres across the country were rapidly changing and queried whether the regeneration plans for BCP Council included the provision for its cultural aspirations in order to revitalise town centres and other districts across the conurbation. The Portfolio Holder referred to the proposals for the Lansdown Project, which was originally put forward as a way to encourage the use of open space for open air markets or as performance space. He added that he felt town centres needed to be considered as an experience, rather than just a space for the retail sector, as this had been dwindling in recent years.
• A Board Member agreed with the Portfolio Holder’s previous statement and stated the importance of encouraging all promoters of culture, regardless of whether large or small in scale, local or national or indeed what sector, e.g. arts, music or sport, to name a few.
• A Board Member queried how youth and students of the area’s universities or language schools would be drawn into contributing to this framework. The Lead Member advised that there was a further piece of work to be undertaken to achieve a greater level of engagement in relation to this subject area. The compact needed to include representation from educational settings to promote the contribution of younger people’s views into how talent can be attracted to the area, developed and retained in the area. Barriers need to be removed to ensure all demographics are involved. The Portfolio Holder added that universities and the local colleges had been involves throughout so far, his concerns were moreso about getting to the ‘unidentified’ youth or those unaffiliated with an organisation, to seek their views and contributions.

The Chairman thanked Board Members, the Portfolio Holder and the Lead Member for their contributions and summed up the discussion stating that he felt that every aspect of the Council’s corporate plan should be influenced by corporate aspects as it was all about the quality of wellbeing of residents. He added that he was impressed with the work that had been undertaken thus far and thanked all those who had been involved.